Adobe launches AIR for mobile; Eyes Android support in 2010

Adobe said its army of Flash developers on the desktop will now be able to launch mobile applications too. The company unveiled Adobe AIR for mobile devices and said it will support Google's Android platform this year.

Adobe said its army of Flash developers on the desktop will now be able to launch mobile applications too. The company unveiled Adobe AIR for mobile devices and said it will support Google's Android platform this year.

Flash Player 10.1 beta is available to content providers and mobile developers with general availability in the first half of 2010. This version is a consistent runtime across PCs, tablets, smartphone and consumer electronics.

AIR for mobile devices is designed to allow developers to cover multiple operating systems and browsers. The big selling point is that developers can create applications once and sell them across multiple platforms and app stores.

That last item is Adobe's "we have you surrounded line" to Apple. Adobe's plan is to take AIR and combine it with its Creative Suite so developers and content publishers can test and create multiple apps to go everywhere.

AIR is runtime engine for Windows, Mac and Linux from Adobe that supports rich Internet applications (RIAs). Adobe AIR enables Flash/Flex, JavaScript, HTML and AJAX code to resemble traditional desktop applications by running without the Web browser.

If all goes according to Adobe's plan it the company's AIR platform will be the best friend of mobile developers, who have to write applications for multiple platforms. There's a need for more efficiency in developing mobile applications and Adobe is trying to fill it.